Remodeling Burrell Is a 'Top Priority'

The Foxborough School Committee has made it clear that remodeling the Mabelle M. Burrell Elementary School is a top priority within the coming year.

The committee approved submitting a Fiscal Year 2013 Capital Improvement Plan Monday night to the Board of Selectmen. Included in that request was funding $235,000 to complete a Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) feasibility study, which the MSBA requires before allocating its funds to the remodeling/reconstruction of public schools.

Overall, the district is requesting $933,750 for improvements: Computer/software upgrades, $168,750; two new school buses, $164,000; four copiers, $56,000, resurfacing the track at the Ahern Middle School, $65,000; a school and municipal network/data center, $85,000; and a school and municipal VoIP system, $150,000.

Bill Yukna, district business administrator, presented the initial plan requests to the committee during a Jan. 30 meeting. Since then, Yukna said he removed the $10,000 request to fund a statement of interest for the Burrell school, which is step one in the MSBA process.

"It does not meet the requirements...and if we're going to get it in, we can roll it in with the feasibility study line item request," Yukna said, adding that capital improvement requests need to start at $25,000.

Committee member Kate Kominsky suggested that the committee find its own way to fund the statement of interest, rather than wait for the selectmen accept or deny the request when the plan is presented in March. "It's a CIP (Capital Improvement Plan) item, so it still needs to go through the CIP process," Yukna said.

"It doesn't pay us in the long run to have a building continue to deteriorate," said Committee Member Martha Slattery of the 44-year-old building. "It is less expensive to renovate than knock down and rebuild."

The Burrell school roof is currently near the end of its life span, said Deb Spinelli, school superintendent. The statement of interest is a top priority for the district and will be completed by the fall, she added.

"That will take a few months, and then there's another six-to-nine months to complete the feasibility study," Yukna said. "And our urgency is that we want this completed so we have something to bring to the town hall meeting next May."

Kominsky said that the track at Ahern should also be considered a priority because it's a liability in its current condition. However, Yukna speculated that preliminary talks with the selectmen's office revealed that there may only be $800,000 allocated for capital improvements throughout the town.

"Once we know what the final amount is, we'll have to come back and prioritize our request," he said.